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日本HP EliteBook 840 G7 review – improved in almost every aspect
One of the premium business lineups of HP is undoubtedly the EliteBook series. And this year, they look better than ever before. Its premium build should be attractive to some of the high-profile users, or practically everyone, who values security in their daily work.
Apart from the enhanced features of HP, you get an optional fingerprint reader and an IR face recognition camera. Also, the device happens to offer an NFC coil for a quick connection with other mobile devices.
One thing we have to notice is the Comet Lake-U processors, which are nowhere near the performance shown by AMD’s Ryzen 4000U devices. However, we are going to check that just to be sure.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-840-g7/
Contents
Specs Sheet
HP EliteBook 840 G7 - Specs
- HDD/SSD
- up to 4000GB SSD
- M.2 Slot
- 1x 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 See photo
- RAM
- up to 64GB
- OS
- Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Pro
- Battery
- 53Wh, 3-cell, 56Wh, 3-cell, 45Wh, 3-cell
- Body material
- Aluminum
- Dimensions
- 326.3 x 214.7 x 17.9 mm (12.85" x 8.45" x 0.70")
- Weight
- 1.33 kg (2.9 lbs)
- Ports and connectivity
- 2x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
- 2x USB Type-C
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Thunderbolt 3
- HDMI
- 1.4
- Card reader
- Ethernet LAN
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11ax
- Bluetooth
- 5.0
- Audio jack
- 3.5 Combo Jack
- Features
- Fingerprint reader
- Web camera
- HD
- Backlit keyboard
- optional
- Microphone
- 3x Multi-Array Microphone
- Speakers
- 2 Speakers, Bang & Olufsen
- Optical drive
- Security Lock slot
- Kensington Lock Slot
All HP EliteBook 840 G7 configurations
What’s in the box?
Inside the package, you will found a couple of paper manuals, as well as a 65W power brick.
Design and construction
This notebook’s body is entirely made out of aluminum. It weighs 1.33 kg and has a profile of 17.9mm. Thankfully, both the body and the lid are very resistant to flex and bend, leaving no doubts over the build quality. By the way, you can notice a plastic strip sitting at the top part of the lid, which acts as an antenna for the optional LTE connection.
So, opening the lid is doable with one hand, and here, we can see bezels, which are a lot thinner than last year. Moreover, the top one houses the IR face recognition system.
Going to the keyboard, we see a very capable unit. The layout is good, and while the keycaps are a bit small, the key travel is long and the feedback is clicky, resulting in a very good typing experience. As with most HP laptops that are released in 2020, our only takeaway is the bad positioning of the Power button.
Now, this laptop features a Nipple in the middle of the keyboard, which is paired with two dedicated buttons, placed just above the touchpad. Speaking of which, we got a glass-covered unit with great gliding and accurate tracking. We also found that the entire area is clickable, although the bottom half is a lot less resistant and pleasant to use.
Earlier, we mentioned a fingerprint reader, and it is located beneath the “Right” Arrow key. Also, if you take a look at the base, you can see that the keyboard is flanked by a duo of Bang & Olufsen branded speakers.
Ultimately, this means that the bottom panel is only home to the intake vents, while the exhaust happens from the back – in between the lid and the base.
Ports
On the left side, you can find two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, an audio jack, and an optional Smart Card reader. And on the right – a charging plug, an HDMI connector, and two Thunderbolt 3 ports – both of which can be used for charging (one at a time).
Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance
Thankfully, there are only five Phillips-head captive screws you need to undo before you get inside of the laptop. After that, just pry the panel with a sharp plastic tool.
In this case, the cooling consists of a thin heat pipe, and a medium-sized fan.
Upgradability, though, is where this guy gets us impressed. There are two RAM SODIMM slots, which support up to 64GB of DDR4 memory. And as for the storage – there is one M.2 PCIe x4 slot.
By the way, the first thing you need to unplug before you start messing with the internals is the battery. Here, the unit has a 53Wh capacity.
Display quality
HP EliteBook 840 G7 has a Full HD IPS display, model number AUO AUO068B. Its diagonal is 14″ (35.56 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 157 ppi, their pitch – 0.161 x 0.161 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 56 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).
It has excellent viewing angles. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.
The maximum measured brightness is 457 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 431 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 9%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6400K (average) – slightly warmer than the 6500K optimum for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective.
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is very good – 1690:1.
To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.
Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.
Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.
The yellow dotted line shows HP EliteBook 840 G7’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 97% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.
Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.
We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.
Below you can compare the scores of HP EliteBook 840 G7 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).
The next figure shows how well the display can reproduce dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.
The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.
Response time (Gaming capabilities)
We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.
We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 31 ms
Health impact – PWM / Blue Light
PWM (Screen flickering)
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.
HP EliteBook 840 G7’s backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment at any level. This makes it comfortable for extended periods of use in this aspect.
Blue light emissions
Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.
Conclusions
HP EliteBook 840 G7’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, high maximum brightness (457 nits), and a very good contrast ratio. Also, it doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment and covers 97% of the sRGB color gamut. Moreover, our Gaming and Web design profile, improves the color accuracy, in compliance with the sRGB standard. This means all of the professionals, whose work is dependant on color accuracy will be satisfied.
Buy our profiles
Since our profiles are tailored for each display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP EliteBook 840 G7 configurations with 14.0″ AUO AUO068B (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS panel.
*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected]
Read more about the profiles HERE.
In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.
Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Health-Guard
Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.
Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount
Sound
HP EliteBook 840 G7’s Bang & Olufsen speakers produce a deep sound with good quality. On the other side, its low, mid, and high tones all have some deviations from clarity.
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-elitebook-840-g7-notebook-pc/33386515
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This notebook’s 53Wh battery pack delivers 18 hours and 45 minutes of Web browsing and 17 hours and 20 minutes of video playback.
In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
CPU options
Your options here include the Core i5-10210U, Core i5-10310U, Core i7-10510U, Core i7-10610U, Core i7-10710U, and the Core i7-10810U.
Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
HP EliteBook 840 G7 CPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the HP EliteBook 840 G7 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which HP EliteBook 840 G7 model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.
Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU options
And as far as the graphics go, there is only one option – the integrated Intel UHD Graphics.
Results are from the 3DMark: Time Spy (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Temperatures and comfort
Max CPU load
In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.
Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| Intel Core i5-10210U (15W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP EliteBook 840 G7 | 3.22 GHz (B+101%) @ 99°C | 2.06 GHz (B+29%) @ 79°C | 2.12 GHz (B+33%) @ 73°C |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 | 3.22 GHz (B+101%) @ 94°C | 2.95 GHz (B+84%) @ 97°C | 2.37 GHz (B+48%) @ 91°C |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 | 2.59 GHz (B+62%) @ 75°C | 1.84 GHz (B+15%) @ 74°C | 1.54 GHz @ 67°C |
| MSI Modern 14 | 2.33 GHz (B+46%) @ 61°C | 2.32 GHz (B+45%) @ 71°C | 2.07 GHz (B+29%) @ 80°C |
| HP Probook 440 G7 | 2.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 59°C | 2.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 67°C | 2.20 GHz (B+38%) @ 72°C |
| Lenovo ThinkBook 15-IML | 3.08 GHz (B+93%) @ 73°C | 3.00 GHz (B+88%) @ 82°C | 2.55 GHz (B+59%) @ 80°C |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L13 | 3.04 GHz (B+90%) @ 97°C | 2.10 GHz (B+31%) @ 97°C | 2.12 GHz (B+33%) @ 79°C |
| ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481 | 3.26 GHz (B+104%) @ 94°C | 2.77 GHz (B+73%) @ 98°C | 2.06 GHz (B+29%) @ 71°C |
| Dell Vostro 5590 | 3.50 GHz (B+119%) @ 94°C | 2.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 97°C | 2.36 GHz (B+48%) @ 79°C |
Here, we have an average performer with temperatures that are in check, but frequencies that are a bit low. Thankfully, the notebook never drops below 2.00 GHz in the 15 minutes of Prime95 stress testing.
Comfort during full load
Ultimately, the laptop is pretty quiet even under extreme load. And while the 42C on the keyboard may seem a bit warm, it is definitely not too much.
Verdict
Here, we see another great product from HP. It has a great build quality and premium, lightweight chassis, thanks to the mainly aluminum build. And while its speakers are not the loudest out there, we found them deep, and they have better dynamics than most of the Windows laptops out there.
In addition to its hard-core security game, the laptop impresses with its biometric authentication devices – both the IR face recognition system and the fingerprint reader are pretty quick and accurate. Also, one of its best features is the battery life, which delivers 18 hours and 45 minutes of Web browsing and 17 hours and 20 minutes of video playback.
HP EliteBook 840 G7’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, high maximum brightness (457 nits), and a very good contrast ratio. Also, it doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment and covers 97% of the sRGB color gamut. Moreover, our Gaming and Web design profile, improves the color accuracy, in compliance with the sRGB standard. This means all of the professionals, whose work is dependant on color accuracy will be satisfied.
So at the end of the day, what is wrong with the laptop? Well, pretty much nothing. The only takeaways we found were the poor Power button positioning and the lack of an SD card reader anywhere on the device. However, its dual Thunderbolt 3 connectivity and the maximum supported memory of 64GB really stands out. This device is definitely a good purchase if you are in the market for premium business notebooks. Well, and if you don’t want all the performance out there, because the Comet Lake-U processors are the only thing that pulls this laptop down.
Pros
- Great build quality
- The display doesn’t use PWM to adjust its brightness levels (LG LP140WFА-SPD4)
- Comfortable backlit keyboard
- Two Thunderbolt 3 connectors + 64GB of DDR4 support
- Optional IR face recognition system and a fingerprint reader
- Two workdays worth of battery
Cons
- Bizarre power button location
- Limited by the Comet Lake-U processors
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-840-g7/
